The United Nations has raised the alarm over a widespread hunger and malnutrition crisis in north-east Nigeria.
In a statement on Thursday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says to prevent the crisis from turning fully catastrophic, US$396 million is urgently needed to scale up humanitarian action in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states.
The UN Agency also says an estimated two million children under five in the three states are likely to face wasting this year. This is the most immediate and life-threatening form of malnutrition.
According to the statement, the deepening food crisis and worrying malnutrition levels are the result of years of protracted conflict and insecurity which continue to prevent more than 2 million people from returning home, and a combination of fuel and food inflation, a naira cash crisis earlier in the year, and climate shocks are among factors that have worsened the crisis.
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The UN said if additional funding is not received, humanitarian partners will only reach about 300,000 of the 4.3 million at-risk people in need of food assistance during the peak of the lean season.
The World Food Programme (WFP) is scaling up its operations to assist 2.1 million people with emergency food and nutrition supplies.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and nutrition partners aim to provide life-saving nutrition services to over one million malnourished children, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) plans to reach two million people with seed packages to secure cereal production for the upcoming harvest.
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